A Taste of China South of the Border

MEXICALI, Mexico — Thousands of Californians come to this border city every week to shop, go to the bullfights, spend time in a foreign land and eat Mexican food.

They also come to eat Chinese food.

Connoisseurs of Chinese cuisine know Mexicali as a city with some of the finest Chinese restaurants in the Western Hemisphere. And there's no lack of choice--more than 100 Chinese restaurants are open for business here.

It should come as no surprise. Mexicali, which is just south of the California city of Calexico, has a Chinese heritage that goes back to the community's beginnings at the turn of the century.

Indeed, there were Chinese in Mexicali before there were Mexicans. And throughout the first quarter of this century, the city had more Chinese residents than Mexican.

"In the early days of Mexicali, there were so many Chinese here most Mexicans were bilingual, speaking Spanish and Chinese," said Ramon Wong, 62, a third-generation resident of the city.

As Mexicali became established, its Mexican population quickly surpassed and dwarfed the Chinese community. Of the city's current population of 400,000, Mexicali officials estimate that slightly more than 2,000 are full-blooded Chinese and about 8,000 are mixed-blood Chinese-Mexicans.

Still, Mexicali's Chinese community ranks as one of Mexico's largest. And its influenceand importance remain strong.

Much of Mexicali's downtown is owned by Chinese, as are many commercial buildings throughout the community. The city's new $60-million Cachanilla Mall, one of the largest in Mexico, is owned primarily by Chinese.

"Chinese are involved in all kinds of businesses in Mexicali," said Raul Escamilla, 46, manager of a large Mexicali real estate corporation. "They own ABSA, El Ahorro and Ley supermarket chains. They are in banking, land development, real estate. They own and operate department stores, clothing stores and a variety of commercial enterprises."

Ramon Wong owns Casa Wong, the largest money exchange company in Mexicali, and is part owner of several other businesses. His family owns the Mandarin Mall, and he served as president for five years of the Associacion China Mexicali, an organization of the city's Chinese merchants that has a membership of 600.

With pride, Wong said, "Chinese were pioneers of Mexicali. . . . They have played a leading role in the development of this city since the beginning."